Cayley Family History

The Cayley crest

A warm welcome to the Cayley Family History website.

Do keep coming back - the site is often added to.

This site is maintained by Michael Cayley. I have information on well over 5000 members of Cayley and related families. I am always delighted to hear from people interested in the Cayley family, and to respond to queries and requests for information. I welcome information about any aspects of Cayley family history, and suggestions for additions or corrections to this website. If you would like to get in touch with me, please email me at cayley@one-name.org

One-Name study

Brief History of the Cayley family

The name “Cayley” comes from a village called Cailly in Normandy, and the first members of the family to settle in England came with the Norman invasion of 1066. Over the next two centuries they acquired estates in East Anglia, Sussex, Gloucestershire and Yorkshire. By Tudor times the surname had evolved from "de Cailly" to "Cayley". Eventually the main branch settled in Yorkshire at a village called Brompton, inland from Scarborough. Since then the family has spread, and members are to be found in various English counties, Australia, Canada, New Zealand, the USA and elsewhere.

There are a number of Cayleys not clearly linked to the Brompton Cayleys. It is possible that some descend from members of the family who stayed in East Anglia or Sussex in the Middle Ages. The same may be true for some "Caley" families - this is a surname associated with East Anglia. A number of families varied the spelling of their surname between "Caley" and "Cayley".

Medieval records suggest that some families with the surname Callaway, Kellaway (or other variants) may have descended from a branch of the de Cailly family, but this is not definitively proven.

Census and other information implies that in the 19th century a few Irish immigrants to England and North America with surnames Kelly or Cawley changed them to Cayley.

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Please note that I have a policy of not including on this site information which relates to people who may still be living, unless I have their permission to do so. If you notice any instance where I have inadvertently included such information, please let me know.